


Begin Again

by perksofbeingahalfie



Category: Callisto 6 (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 15:09:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21210593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perksofbeingahalfie/pseuds/perksofbeingahalfie
Summary: In the battle for Los Angeles, the Callisto 6 fail. Out of time, Luma must renew their story, as she has already done so many times before.





	Begin Again

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, whoever may be reading this!
> 
> This fic contains major spoilers up until the series finale of Callisto 6, so beware. It's been awhile since I've written fanfiction, I hope you enjoy it!

The pop of plasma, streaking through the air. The ripple of space-time, tingeing the air a jewel violet. The crunch of bones, crumpling under the impact of fists. The crackle of energy, radiating from their hands, their fingertips, their eyes. Everything was going according to plan.

Until it wasn’t. 

Voon’Kos was just too powerful. Or maybe they were too cocky. Maybe it was the generator, or a lack of cohesion, a chance that should have been taken, one that should not have been, a moment hesitated, a small misstep. Maybe the hands of fate were never in their favor in the first place. No matter the reason, the second Voon’Kos stepped through the portal, it was clear to Luma: they were failing. 

As her eyes darted around the lab, she couldn’t escape the struggle of her friends. Duke lay motionless at her feet, shallow breaths barely exiting her pale lips. Florence did what she could, but it didn’t stop the sinking feeling in her gut as she watched Lacy tear another hole in space and yell out Dr. Patel’s name. Luma knew her friend well enough to know, even through the unchanging exterior of Honey Baby, that they were tired. Through the chaos of battle, she could see Kostche shielding Cobalt from a blast of energy before firing a shot. Cobalt himself was coughing violently, an arm slung over the cyborg’s shoulder, blood dripping down his face. Snaps was still a blur, but the blur was moving slower, and when it stopped for just a moment, even he was out of breath. A yell emitted from Kylan as Anton squeezed him tighter, and Oya flung her hand out, energy arcing in his direction. On the opposite side of the lab, Hopps and Cass stood side by side, blocking Moonlight from the towering figure of Voon’Kos. Fire burned in their eyes and throats as they hurled insults and blows alike towards the creature that had so long terrorized their homes and their lives. It just growled in response, a smirk on its face. 

Rage and fear swirled inside Luma’s stomach. She breathed heavily, an ache in her side. Blood rushed in her ears. This was it. 

“Moonlight!” Her head snapped towards Luma, hair swinging. Luma’s hands flew through the air. “I need your help! It’s time for plan B. We have to go.” Luma could see the conflict in her eyes as she hesitated, torn between her tormentor before her and her friend behind her. “Come on,” Luma pleaded. “We need you.” Moonlight clenched her jaw, took a deep breath, and turned away from Voon’Kos.

Luma gave a quick sigh of relief. Looking down at Duke’s body one last time, a soft _ “I’m sorry” _ escaped from her lips, and she took off towards Oya, Moonlight following suit. As she ran, her heart beat fast in her chest. This was the moment Luma and Oya could never escape, an ever present thought in the back of their minds. They never brought it up, but ever since they stumbled upon a very much alive Dr. Patel and discovered the truth about Fletcher, they both knew what they had to do. After all, it wasn’t much different from what they had already been doing: uncovering truths, fighting battles, and saving the lives of those who didn’t know the scope in which their own world existed. Their lives for that of the whole city? There was no question to it. 

As a battle for Los Angeles raged, Luma skidded to a stop next to Oya and secured the grip on her shield. “Oya,” she gasped. “You have to send me back. This might be our only chance.” 

Oya’s eyes widened, but she took a deep breath and bobbed her head. “Okay.” She bit her lip and kept nodding. “Okay, okay, okay. Moonlight, grab my arm.” She did so, and as Luma glanced at her, she didn’t need a connection to see that Moonlight was _ furious _. They had all seen rage before, the flame burning in Cass and Hopps and even the occasional piercing look in Lacy’s eyes. But Moonlight? The anger she held deep down was something different. And with Voon’Kos here, in the flesh, all the rage and fury she had built up over the years and years of pain boiled up to the surface and spilled out. 

A roar and a scream pulled Luma’s focus, and her eyes found Hopps, crouched on one knee. She tried to push herself up before falling again. Voon’Kos extended an arm and lighting danced through the air, drawn to its massive figure. Cass let out a furious cry and soared into the air. “Take this, you corporate piece of trash!” Her first connected with the entity in front of her. It barely flinched. 

Luma forced herself to look back at Oya. She couldn’t falter, not now. Not for anything. 

“You can do this,” Oya whispered to herself, barely audible over the noise around her. She cupped her hands around an invisible force in the air. In front of her, a spark emerged from nothing, crackling a few times before stabilizing. “Moonlight, I need a little more juice.” After a moment, the spark grew larger and started to become a thin line. Luma stood, holding her shield aloft, protecting the two from any threats that could break their concentration. Oya grunted, the effort on her face palpable. “I’m almost there. Just a little-” 

“_ NO!” _

The voice of Voon’Kos shook the lab, and Luma stumbled for a moment before solidly planting her feet. It knew what they were trying to do. She couldn’t let it stop them. 

“Oya,” Luma warned, fear creeping into her voice.

“I’m going, I’m going,” she replied through gritted teeth. Sparks of the Callisto energy popped and danced across her skin. “Just one more- I’ve got it!”

There was a flash of light, and the thin line exploded into a round portal. Luma had seen Oya do this before, but instead of the dark beyond she had previously seen, a purple haze was all she could make out. Oya staggered forward before catching herself and solidifying her stance. 

Luma grinned in astonishment. “You did it!” She let out a small chucked; her friends never ceased to amaze her. However, as she looked over, the smile slid from her face. Oya was shaking. Her whole body was tense. Even with all her power, creating and controlling a wormhole through time was stretching her limits. She whimpered, pain scrawled across her face, light flickering around her.

The room rumbled again as Voon’Kos moved towards the trio. Moonlight cried out in pain, sweat dripping from her brow. A flash of energy burst from her hands and she collapsed. Anton took another hit from Kylan and snapped back to his normal figure. He hit the ground and didn’t get back up. Lacy was shouting Hopps’ name, and Kostche growled in frustration as he discarded his last clip. 

“_You will not succeed,” _ Voon’Kos boomed. “_I have destroyed you again and again. What makes you think you’re special?” _Oya’s arms trembled. She let out a scream. The energy around her began to burn brightly, consuming the lower half of her body.

“_Oya!” _ Cass cried, tearing her attention from Voon’Kos. She started towards them, but was immediately thrown to the side as a giant arm came swinging towards her.

“Go!” Oya cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. The light grew even brighter still. “I can’t- I can’t hold it much longer.” Luma look up at the entity approaching her, then at the falling forms of her friends, her family. Her heart swelled. She took a deep breath.

“I love you guys.”

And with blurred vision and the screams of Oya echoing in her ears, she stepped into her past, her purpose, her destiny.

* * *

Light flashed. 

Wind howled. 

Pain shot through her body. 

A yell echoed in her ears.

And then, as soon as it started, it stopped. 

Luma flew through the air, arms flailing. She collided with a wall and crumpled to the floor. A groan escaped from her lips. Her head was pounding. She felt like she bruised every bone in her body. 

Luma lay curled on the floor for a moment. It felt like nothing to step through one of Lacy’s portals, as simple as walking through an open door. Even on the moon, when Oya let them move through the walls of reality, it was only a little disorienting. But this? Moving through time? It was like nothing she had experienced before. 

Blinking her eyes open, she pushed herself up and leaned against the wall, arms hugging her knees. As she caught her breath, she took in her surroundings. Even though Luma didn’t know her exact whereabouts, the hall resembled those of Pyramid Star Solutions. It stretched out in both directions, breaking only for the occasional door and void of any sort of decor besides the metal labels affixed to the wall next to each door. The only sound was the buzzing of fluorescent lights overhead and her own heavy breaths. 

As the silence began to set in, Luma realized she was alone. Yes, she was the only one in the hall - thankfully, as it would be difficult to explain what had just happened to prying eyes-, but for the first time ever, she was _ alone _. Her whole life she was always surrounded by others: her family, her coworkers and students, Lacy, the Callisto 6. Even when they were apart, Luma could always feel them, their company sitting quietly in the back of her mind as ever present as the air in her lungs. But now she could feel nothing. That warm weight was gone, and in its place was a cold, empty shell. 

As her thoughts turned to the Callisto 6, the events of the battle under Pyramid Star came flooding back. She saw the pain on Oya’s face as the Callisto energy consumed her. The words of Dr. Patel from months ago echoed in her ears. Every time Oya sent someone back, it killed her. Luma tried to come up with another explanation - she didn’t actually _see_ it happen. But the emptiness in the back of her head grew, and Luma found her breaths coming more rapidly. Kylan and Voon’Kos had been too powerful. Her friends had fallen, one by one. They finally found a fight they couldn’t win, and they lost. They failed_._

Her heart raced, and alone for the first time, knees against her chest, Luma started to panic. Tears fell from her eyes, and suddenly she was having trouble breathing. Emotions swelled, consuming her thoughts. For months, she had been the cornerstone of her team. Always there, sturdy and strong. She cared for her friends and offered her shoulder to cry on and kept the kitchen stocked. And that was okay! She wanted to help. She wanted to be there for her friends. But her world had been overturned and became more complicated than she could ever imagine, and it had taken its toll. She was tired of being strong. She was scared and alone and didn’t know what to do and couldn’t stop shaking as the world came crashing down around her. 

_ No_. The humming overhead filled her ears. No, this wasn’t the end. They had another chance. _ She _ was their chance. They were counting on her, they had sacrificed themselves for her. She wasn’t going to just cry on the floor in corporate LA and let Voon’Kos win because she felt bad. No. She was going to stand up and fight back. 

“You’re not going to win.” Luma wiped the tears from her eyes and pushed herself up. She winced. Even after taking a moment to recover, the exhaustion from the fight began to settle in. She remembered what the other Luma had told Dr. Patel: she wasn’t sure how many more times she could shift after getting injured. That’s okay, she would just be careful. Adjusting her jacket and pushing her hair from her face, Luma steeled herself with a newfound sense of determination. “We’re stronger than you. _ I’m _ stronger than you.” 

Luma clicked on her mask and looked at the date. Despite the previous events, she was still stunned. The day of the expo; she really was in the past. “Oya, you are… amazing,” she whispered and began flicking through files until she found the one she had prepared months ago. It contained all the information Dr. Patel had given them that fateful day at Big Bear Reserve and a copy of the code that lead them there. At the time she made it, Luma never thought she would actually use it, but a nagging feeling that kept her up during the night compelled her to create it anyway. 

Gazing at the text, Luma sighed. The expo was today, so there wasn’t any time to get the energy off world. She was going to have to start the loop over again and give the Callisto 6 their powers. There was a lot to do, a lot to explain. She was prepared, but the weight of all reality was still resting on her shoulders. “Alright, Luma. You can do this. Just stick to the plan.” Looking around, she quickly located a bathroom and ducked inside, taking the brief moment away from cameras to morph into a young man in a lab coat. It took more effort that it should have, but it was manageable. After confirming her appearance in the mirror, she pulled up blueprints for the building, located Dr. Patel’s lab marked on the map, and started towards the elevator. 

As she walked, Luma’s thoughts ran a mile a minute. Step one: find Dr. Patel. Step two: somehow convince her to give her the canister of C6 energy and erase all her research. Step three: sneak Dr. Patel out of Pyramid Star and get her family to safety. Step four: make her way over to the convention center without getting caught. Step five: hack into the Pyramid Star network, place the code for Lacy to find, and send out the invitations to the dinner. And step six: make sure her friends - and herself - end up in the alleyway during the evacuation and release the Callisto 6 energy. Luma checked the time again. Four hours wasn’t much, but it was enough as long as she kept moving. 

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open to reveal another scientist. Luma, stepped inside and gave them a quick nod, the corner of her lips jerking upwards briefly. They returned the gesture. She pressed the button for the appropriate floor, and the doors slid closed, descending deeper into the building. 

After navigating through the halls and bypassing security, Luma finally reached Dr. Patel’s lab. It took longer than it would have if Lacy were with her, but she managed to make her way there without any problems. Hovering outside the door, Luma peeked through the window. Dr. Patel’s lab was empty save for the scientist herself, pacing back and forth with a data pad in her hand. She muttered to herself and shook her head, as though trying to puzzle something out. 

Luma sighed and rolled her shoulders. She could do this, no problem. She was always great at social interaction. Besides, she had technically already convinced Dr. Patel to believe her at least three other times. She just had to do it again. Luma ducked her head out of view of any potential cameras and shifted back into her usual self. A wave of exhaustion overcame her and she leaned against the wall for support, but it passed quickly. It was probably best that she didn’t shift anymore, but she wanted to approach Dr. Patel as normally as possible. Shaking her hair out, Luma collected herself, took a deep breath, and opened the door to the lab. 

“I- Oh!” Dr. Patel jumped a little and nearly dropped her data pad. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting anyone.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.” Luma moved forward, nerves starting to build up. “Dr. Patel, I really need to talk to you. It’s important.” 

“I- I don’t-” she stuttered, taken aback by the urgency in her voice. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

Luma took a deep breath. “My name is Luma Orsini, and I need your help. This is going to sound crazy, and you probably won’t believe me, but it’s the truth. Please, just listen. I am… from the future.” Dr. Patel opened her mouth, furrowed her brow, shook her head and scoffed, then frowned again. “I know, I know, it sounds crazy. Believe me, I know. But just- please, listen.

“My friends and I, we have, well, abilities. Powers. Things we can do. And we’ve been using these powers to figure out everything that’s going on in LA and help people. I know you’ve started to figure out all the messed up stuff that Pyramid Star has been doing with the testing and the clones and Fletcher. Well, it turns out that Fletcher is actually an interdimensional being, and it’s trying to use the C6 power source to take over the city and the world and destroy everything. And… he succeeded. We tried to stop him, but he was too strong. So my friend sent me back in time to try again.” Luma took a pause here, not just to let Dr. Patel collect her thoughts, but to do the same with her own. Her story really did sound crazy saying it out loud. 

Dr. Patel narrowed her eyes and bobbed her head, confusion written across her face. “Um, listen. I don’t know who you are, but I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.” Her hand inched towards her data pad.

“No, wait!” Luma held her hands up. Dr. Patel stopped. “Please. I know you think I’m crazy, but please. Let me show you.” She didn’t say anything, but she also didn’t do anything to turn her away. Luma extended her fingers. Brown hair sprouted from her scalp and tumbled down past her shoulders, her skin darkened, and she shrank down to eye level with a stunned Dr. Patel who stared back into a mirror, mouth gaping.

“I-I-”

Luma held it for a few more seconds before dropping her arms and her facade. Dizziness washed over her and Luma squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, suppressing the urge to vomit. Her body was already tired, and it was starting to get worse. 

“You just- How did you…” Dr. Patel took a step back, mouthing words she couldn’t seem to form. She cleared her throat and cautiously asked, almost afraid, “How did you do that?” 

“You,” Luma said softly. “You figured out how to bond the Callisto 6 energy to people. And it’s not like the other ones, like the C5 tests. You stabilized it. And when it’s fused with people-” Luma gestured to herself. “This is how it manifests. As powers.”

Dr. Patel shook her head. “No, no, no. I _ just _ finalized the process. It hasn’t even gone to human testing yet. And how did you know about the C5 tests? Or any of this? It’s all _ extremely _classified!”

“I told you. I’m from the future, another timeline. For me, all this has already happened.” Luma pursed her lips, trying to figure out what details could convince her. “I know about Project Synapse, the Cassium mutations, Fletcher, the clones. Oh! I even know that you named the energy source Callisto after your cat. You have to believe me. It’s the truth, and I need your help.” She let the words hang in the air, giving Dr. Patel a moment to process. Luma chewed on her lip and checked the time again. She needed to hurry. 

The moment stretched on forever, but Dr. Patel finally opened her mouth and spoke. “You said ‘interdimensional being’?”

Her eyes widened. “You believe me?”

“I- well, I don’t-” Dr. Patel started, blinking rapidly. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know what to believe.” But a grin was already growing on Luma’s face. “Just… start from the beginning.”

* * *

The doors burst open, and Luma stumbled into the alleyway, clutching her side. Her body screamed in agony. Blood seeped through her lab coat. Sweat plastered long, brown hair to her cheek. A hand that was not hers pushed it back, and ragged breaths exhaled from a mouth that belonged to someone else.

She fell against the wall, barely able to hold herself up, and cradled the canister closer to her chest. It hummed with energy, restless, eager to get out. A mixture of spit and blood spattered across the concrete as she coughed. She wasn’t going to last much longer. Every fiber of her being cried out, begging for rest, for the pain to stop, for peace. As she groaned, a noise caught her ear. Her eyes rose to meet it, and she gasped.

Coming out of the expo center, lit by a dim streetlight and the red and blue flashing of a distant police car, there they were: her friends and _ herself_. Oya and Cass stared at each other, eyes narrowed, speaking in a silent language only the two could yet understand. Anton, styled to the tee in a blazer and a corporate badge, looked around, not quite sure what to do. To the left of him, Hopps clenched and unclenched her fists, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet in anticipation. And lo and behold, Lacy sat in her chair, gazing up at a frantic Luma. It was the Callisto 6, still strangers, but united all the same. She could even make out Cobalt at the end of the alley, hood up, crouched behind a dumpster and gripping a paint can, watching the group intently. 

As the group talked, shock turned to awe as Luma stared, unable to tear her eyes away. Surreal was the only way to describe the feeling the overcame her as she heard her own voice babble about hacking. _ This must be how it feels for everyone else _, she thought, grimacing as another stab of pain shot through her side.

“Wait, there’s somebody else here.”

“What?” 

Voices echoed through the alleyway. Six heads turned in her direction, and confusion turned to fear as Luma, well, the other Luma, let out a gasp.

“Oh, my gosh!”

“Doc, you okay?” 

Luma’s heart broke in two at the sight of the most important people in her life looking back at her, recognition absent from their eyes. Dread pooled in her stomach, replacing the blood that continued to soak her shirt. A horrible sense of _déjà_ _vu_ came over her. This was it. The beginning and the end, all at once.

“I’m so sorry,” she panted, shaking her head back and forth. “I’m out of time.”

“Time for what? Are you okay?” The other Luma surged forward, eyes and heart filled with care. But it was too late. With the last of her effort, Luma pushed herself off the wall, gripped the canister, and opened it.

Blinding light exploded outwards. Radiance arced forward, striking the inhabitants of the alley. The world rippled, energy sparking and flying, finding their targets and burning them, transforming them at their very core. Lightning. Strength. Unity. Resonance. Elasticity. Understanding. Reality. Screams filled the night, anguish in its purest form, a cacophony of sound and power. 

And then it was done.

They gasped and groaned and grabbed hands, confusion overlapping one another. Luma swallowed, breathing heavily. She was almost gone. Her legs were growing cold. Questions rose up, demanding answers. Luma just shook her head, vision starting to blur. “I didn’t have a choice,” she breathed, and collapsed onto the pavement below. 

Images and sounds swam through Luma’s head as she lay, diving in and out of consciousness. Bodies rushing forward. An arm rolling her over. Voices calling for first aid, emergency services, a stasis device. The pop of electricity. Something shattering. Arguments. A sharp pinch, and then a rush of warmth as her own face came into view.

Luma’s eyes fluttered, trying to focus on her friends around her. Her side throbbed. 

“Dr. Patel?”

Pain consumed her mind, but she managed to form words. “You have to get out of here,” she muttered. 

Her own voice spoke back. “We’re trying to get you help.” The others looked on quietly, unsure of what to do. 

“They’re co- they’re coming,” she whispered. Cass shouted in protest. Luma couldn’t even find the strength to smile at the girl she grew to love. “I didn’t have a choice. I’m so sorry.” 

“Hey, hey, hey, hey. You’re gonna be fine.” Looking down at her, the other Luma curled her hand around her cheek. “Like you said, they’re coming, okay?” She was trying her best, she really was, but Luma knew what came next. She could feel herself slipping away, less and less of her there each second. She listened to the voices as they spoke, arguing about what to do. 

“We’re just gonna leave her to die on the street by herself?”

“We can’t move her.” 

“Not even a little? We can put her on the trunk.”

Luma squeezed her own hand, a weak pulse, drawing the attention of her former self. The moment crawled forward, as if in slow motion. The moment that Luma had played over and over in her mind for months, the moment that haunted her dreams, the moment she could never forget: the first time she watched someone die. In her arms, the light fading from their eyes. And now she was on the other side of it. 

Locking eyes with her own, Luma Orsini mustered all the strength she could and whispered her final words to the shining face in front of her. “It’s all up to you now.” 

And as she drifted off into the great unknown, her vision clouding until even the white locks and brown eyes faded from sight, she couldn’t help but feel a great sense of peace. She did it. Her journey was over. All the pain and love and hope and sorrow, it came to an end, like all things do. And though they hadn’t won, they hadn’t lost either. Maybe they were no longer in the fight, but on it would rage. On it would rage. Their turn was simply over. None can know how the events of life unfold, but at the end of her time, Luma knew. Voon’Kos may have beaten them before, but it could never truly win. No, it couldn’t. It would never triumph, never succeed. In the end, it would always fail because here, and now, and then, and again, one truth would always remain: the Callisto 6 lives. 

  
  



End file.
